Prison company
by T.E.D.S
Summary: Sirius had a thought that could not be sucked out, but what could keep Bellatrix at least slightly sane in Azkaban? Read to find out what my idea is.
1. Chapter 1

_I know that it's foolish to start another story before finishing one, but I just couldn't resist. __And it's yet another Bellatrix fanfiction! Came in a crazy talk with my friends._

Bellatrix was brutally thrown into her cell. She did not resist, it was pointless. The door slammed and the Death Eater was left in the cell all alone.

At least it seemed so at first, until her eyes got used to the darkness and she looked around.

And she shrieked.

On the straw bed, there was sitting a ghost, sitting as if he was sitting on a couch in front of a fireplace.

'Good evening!' the ghost said enthusiastically, he jumped on his feet and came up to Bellatrix – he walked and not flew, like the Hogwarts ghost did. Bellatrix noticed old marks of fire around the straw bed. Fire in Azkaban?

'Good?' she snorted. The ghost was still smiling. He was wearing a bloodstained prisoner's uniform, he had some scars and a black eye and he looked as if he hadn't eaten anything or slept for ages. Which was almost sure, as he was a ghost.

'Well, you must admit that it's better for you than most of the prisoners' the ghost said casually. 'You have a company. And talking about company, it's a very good day for me as well. I was so bored, of course Conrad visits me, but I'm always happy to meet new people. The last one I was sharing this cell with stayed sane until the very end, you know. And he spent over twenty years here.'

Bellatrix grimly nodded.

'How long are you haunting this cell?' she asked. The ghost laughed.

'I'm not haunting, I'm spending time here! It's quite good, except the first week of July. And I can't answer you right now… which year is it now?'

'1981… early December…'

'This makes almost one hundred and forty-one. One hundred and forty as a ghost.'

'You _wanted_ to stay here for so many years?' Bellatrix gazed at the ghost in disbelief.

'I had no choice' the ghost stopped smiling. He sat on the straw bed back. For a long while he swayed on it with his eyes closed, there was almost complete silence, broken only by Barty's screams from the next cell.

'My name is Carl' the ghost said finally. 'And yours?'

'Bellatrix' Bellatrix said. Well, she was going to spend some time with this ghost. They could as well pass to the first-name terms immediately… he was so much older than her, and he looked much younger, he looked like he died in his late teens or early twenties. She couldn't address someone like this "Mr. Whatever-His-Last-Name-Was", so she didn't ask him to call her Mrs. Lestrange. And the ghost – Carl – looked satisfied.

'Bellatrix' he said, looking like he was enjoying the sound of her name. 'The warrior woman… oh, you would be so welcome when I was ten…'

Suddenly the ghost stood straight.

'Please, Bellatrix, tell me… do you know anything about… about Poland?'

Bellatrix remembered one of the Muggle Studies lesson, the one about Muggle history… and there was something in Carl's eyes that made her answer.

'Do you mean People's Republic of Poland? This puny little country between Germany and Soviet Union?' she asked just in case.

'IT'S BACK?' Carl screamed joyfully, and he danced through the cell, giving shrieks of joy and then he jumped up to the barred window in the cell door. 'CONRAD!' he yelled. 'POLAND IS BACK!'

No one answered him.

'It's the happiest day in my whole li…' Carl suddenly stopped and laughed. 'I'm sorry.'

'Who's Conrad?' Bellatrix asked curiously.

'He's my friend. You'll meet him soon for sure.'

Bellatrix sat down on the straw bed next to Carl.

'You're here and you're so happy?' she asked. The ghost nodded.

'I'm a ghost, so dementors don't affect me… I should also mention that Conrad talked them into leaving this cell quite alone.'

'Conrad is a ghost too?'

'Not really… he'll explain it better. What did they put you here for?'

Bellatrix hesitated. If the ghost didn't like her answer, he could leave her all alone, and he was right – any company would help her stay sane to the return of the Dark Lord…

'I wanted… I wanted to help my master to return…' she whispered. Carl nodded understandingly.

'I'd hug you if I had anything to hug you with' he said casually. 'I wanted Poland to return…'

'Yeah, I noticed' Bellatrix snorted. 'And so did Conrad, am I right?'

'Yes.'

'Oh… Carl… my husband is here too… and my brother-in-law… and my friend… can you visit them too?'

Carl shook his head.

'No, I'm sorry I can't. But Conrad can if I ask him to.'

He took a ghost of tissue and a ghost of tobacco out of his pocket. He made a cigarette and smoked it.

_I'd love it if you reviewed! Point me language mistakes and anything you liked and didn't like._


	2. Chapter 2

Every day the first thing that Bellatrix saw was Carl sleeping peacefully on a ghost of a straw bed. She found it weird of course, as she never knew any ghost sleeping. Carl was definitely an unusual ghost. What she also found out was that he was like a shield, and she didn't feel the dementors as long as Carl was between her and them. This alone was enough to accept the unusual company. Of course there were downsides too. The first thing that Carl did every morning was making a ghost of cigarette and smoking it. Even though the ghostly smoke had no smell, it got irritating after a few days.

'You shouldn't smoke so much or you'll burn' Bellatrix said casually. Carl laughed bitterly.

'Needless to say' he said and made the cigarette disappear. He lay down on the stone floor, staring at the ceiling. A few tears trickled down his cheeks.

'I wish I could leave' he whispered. 'I wish as much as you do.'

'You are a ghost. Why can't you just go through the walls?'

'It's because of a curse' Carl sat up. 'When I was alive, as soon as they imprisoned me, they cast a curse which made me unable to leave this cell. And this is also because I'm a ghost. I wouldn't stay if not this curse…'

'Is this also the reason why you aren't very… ghostly? I mean, you're the first ghost I know to smoke, sleep and walk instead of floating…'

'Maybe… to some extent. But smoking, and well, creating ghosts of objects… it's making wishes, and this is thanks to Conrad. He provides me energy… you'll meet him soon.'

'How soon?'

'Probably today… he comes every week. Oh, here comes Conrad!'

Through bars in the cell door Bellatrix saw a dementor. She stepped back, but Carl ran up to the door.

'Conrad!' he squealed with joy. 'Warm up a little.'

Maybe the dementor said something, maybe he didn't. Anyway, even when no one was between him and Bellatrix, she didn't feel him.

'My name is Million…' the dementor hissed.

'I thought it's Conrad' Bellatrix mumbled, feeling even more awkward.

'Because it _is_ Conrad' Carl sighed. 'He sometimes acts crazy… Conrad, meet Bellatrix.'

The dementor reached his hand to the prisoner. Bellatrix shyly shook it. Conrad's hand seemed warmer and more _alive_ than it should. Carl was making himself another ghost of a cigarette.

'Would you like?' he asked Conrad and the dementor shook his head. Carl shrugged. Bellatrix thought she was caught in some crazy dream – because it was impossible to be in Azkaban, sharing a cell with a ghost that slept and smoked and a dementor that controlled himself…

'We are real' Carl said as if he was reading her mind. 'I really lived once.'

Conrad took off his hood. His face was almost human – about as much as Voldemort's face was.

'I used to be a human' he said. 'But I was too proud… and I was punished for this. I was challenging someone too powerful, and cried, "Let me rule the souls!", and so I was made a dementor. So now… loneliness… what's for people?'

'Come on, Conrad, don't improvise now!' Carl laughed. 'Last time we let him improvise he didn't shut up for three hours' he explained.

'Two and a half' Conrad corrected.

'Whatever. I don't really want to listen again.'

'Well, if so, I'll be leaving soon… I brought you something.'

Conrad handed Carl a little vial with something green. The ghost thanked him and drank the substance. For a while, he seemed almost solid. He looked at his hand and smiled. He patted Bellatrix's shoulder and she felt a gentle tough – something like she was touched with a tissue.

'How can it…' she started.

'Conrad brought me some life.'

'Sucked out of the prisoners?' the Death Eater assumed. Carl nodded.

'This is my only way to get a little bit… a little bit _alive_. I can make wishes. Or else I'd bore to dea…' the ghost laughed again.

'You didn't get used to being a ghost?'

'I do what I can not to get used! If I only could leave this cell, I wouldn't care for making wishes and staying alive. And well, not counting Conrad, I rarely have any company… one can forget a lot when there's no company.'

'Forget you're dead?'

'Well, I do my best, and Conrad helps me.'

'Conrad' Bellatrix turned to the dementor. 'Could you do something for me?'

'Anything for such a beautiful lady' Conrad bowed. 'Unless I wouldn't have to get to every cell… it would get suspicious.'

'I… I will get out of here, as soon as my lord returns' Bellatrix gulped. 'But I wish so much to stay in… well, quite good condition, to serve him well… and for the rest I wish the same… for everyone who has this Mark' she pulled up her left sleeve.

'Oh well, I'll do my best if I only get something from you…'

'And what could it be? I don't have anything here…'

'A kiss.'

_Do you think Bellatrix will agree? Leave a review!  
><em>


	3. Chapter 3

'You... you want my soul?' Bellatrix sighed. Conrad shook his head.

'I don't want to kiss you... I want _you_ to kiss _me_. This is something very different. Come on, give me a kiss' he pointed at his cheek. Bellatrix hesitated.

'Fear not' Carl said. 'It should be completely safe. Anyway, what can you lose?'

'My soul?' Bellatrix assumed.

'Well, soul is very important' the ghost agreed, making himself another ghostly cigarette. Then he turned his back at the other two, as if he wanted to tell them that he didn't care. Bellatrix shrugged and came up to Conrad. The dementor was taller than she was, so she climbed on her toes to kiss him quickly on the cheek. Conrad smiled widely and put his hood back on. He left the cell.

'And how is it, the soul still on right place?' Carl asked. Bellatrix nodded and the ghost smiled widely.

'I knew it. It's been over a hundred and forty years since Conrad had any contact with a girl... poor guy, missed it a lot.'

Bellatrix didn't know what to say. The ghost sat down in a corner, produced a ghostly string out of his pocket and began playing with it, humming a strange tune. Bellatrix closed her eyes. The tune was nice and calm. Even... dreamy...

Carl smiled and moved a curl of hair away from the sleeping woman's face. He was happy to keep her company. He sat next to her, still humming and watching gentle smile on Bellatrix's lips.

* * *

><p>Even the days weren't bright, but at nights Bellatrix could see nothing save Carl and his ghostly possessions. Of course she slept most of the time, but sometimes she would wake up screaming, and absolute darkness didn't help to calm her.<p>

'Calm, calm, it's okay, I'm here' Carl would say. 'There is nothing to fear...'

'I... I don't like darkness' Bellatrix muttered. Carl sighed.

'I'm sorry' he whispered.

'What for?' Bellatrix asked with astonishment.

'For this darkness' Carl turned his head away.

'You know' Bellatrix smiled faintly. 'You... you are quite a light for this cell...'

'I know' Carl sighed. 'But I don't know anything about any other ghost haunting this place, and I would know for sure, Conrad would tell me... so all the others here are in complete darkness, and it's ALL MY FAULT!'

The ghost's last three words were filled with anguish. Bellatrix waved her hand through his shoulder.

'It can't be your fault...' she said. Carl shook his head.

'Only my fault. If not for me, the prisoners would get some light for the nights... and because of me, the guardians don't want to take chances' he said bitterly. Bellatrix didn't understand everything of this.

'Is... is this somehow connected with... with the way you died?' she asked shyly. Carl whined and nodded. Bellatrix didn't ask more questions.


	4. Chapter 4

Spring made Carl a bit happier. He would sing songs in Polish, which Bellatrix didn't understand, but found pleasant. In the rhythm of his song, she was walking around the cell.

'Do you know many of them?' she asked. Carl nodded and began another song.

'_W niedzielę rano, w niedzielę rano, drobny deszcz pada... a moja dziewczyna, a moja jedyna, ze mną nie __gada..._'1

Conrad stopped visiting, limiting himself to passing life to Carl through the barred window in the cell door.

'Is he mad at you?' Bellatrix asked. Carl shook his head.

'I don't think so. And I don't know what he could be mad about. It's not the first time I have company here...'

'So why doesn't he come in?'

'Maybe he doesn't feel very good or… damn it.'

'What happened?'

'He's getting me used to. Soon it must be…' Carl got even paler, his eyes shot wide open. 'July.'

'What's wrong in July?' Bellatrix frowned. Carl waved his hand.

'I died in July' he said. He looked like he didn't want to talk about it, but Bellatrix was curious.

'How did you die? Did you starve yourself, like most of prisoners here?'

Carl shook his head.

'I couldn't starve myself.'

'How so?'

'You see, Bellatrix… starving yourself means that you refuse to eat what you get.'

'Uh… yes.'

'So someone who doesn't get any food can't starve themselves.'

'You… you didn't get ANY food?'

Carl nodded.

'No food, no sleep… I wasn't supposed to spend much time here. Just until I died, and it was meant to be a short time.'

'So what exactly did they get you here?'

'For founding a group to teach history, culture and literature.'

'You're joking, aren't you?'

'I wouldn't dare to joke with you. I'm dead serious.'

A silence – a dead silence – fell. Carl turned his head away.

'I wasn't joking' he sighed. 'They wanted me to give away the others.'

'And… this is why they put this curse on you?'

'Not really. They cast it when I tried to escape. Then they were whipping me… until they broke me.'

'You gave your friends away?'

'What? No, I couldn't. I knew that they would kill me anyway, so I thought… I thought I had nothing to lose. I killed myself.'

'How? Did you hang yourself?'

Carl didn't say anything.

'Too… too private?' Bellatrix asked. Carl shook his head.

'No, too much time passed… you just asked about it very early. Before July.'

'So… how?'

'I burned myself.'

This time Bellatrix couldn't say a word. She was just staring at Carl, her eyes wide open. Her cellmate smiled widely.

'You should see your face. You look like you saw a ghost!' he said. This made Bellatrix laugh hysterically.

'But… how? How could you burn yourself?'

'On the straw bed. I had an oil lamp here in the cell, I put it under the straw bed… and in the morning, my body was totally cold. I thought that dead would set me free, but alas, the guard curse made me stay here – as a ghost. And then, they also cast the Phoenix Curse on me…'

'But… but it's forbidden!'

'That's right. Since three years after my death.'

'And this means…'

'…that I'll go through my death again. I'm sorry. I won't be a good companion.'

Carl turned his back at Bellatrix. He didn't want to say anything more.

1 Translation: _On Sunday morning, on Sunday morning, it rains slightly, and my girlfriend, and my one, doesn't talk to me_. This is an old Polish song (about 16th century)

_Leave a review please!_


	5. Chapter 5

_I'm sorry for the delay, polishing this chapter took me loads of time. I hope you find it worth waiting._

Conrad came only once again, at the very beginning of July. This time, apart of warmish "take care", he didn't pay attention to Bellatrix, concentrating on Carl.

'You'll endure' he was assuring the ghost. 'You went through it so many times. After it's done, I'll bring you a lot of life… three vials. Be strong. Be brave.'

Carl was only nodding, sobbing from time to time. Bellatrix didn't know much about the Phoenix Curse before. She thought that it merely forced the victim to go through their death every year – but Carl explained her why she was wrong. The Phoenix Curse forced the victim to go through a few last days of their life. And for the ghost, these were by no means pleasant.

Conrad was stroking Carl's hair, holding his hand. He was whispering soothing words to his ear while Bellatrix was eating some thin slop, which didn't taste even half as bad as in the beginning. She was watching the uncommon pair of friends. For quite a long time, they both just sat on the cold floor, when suddenly Conrad jumped back. At first Bellatrix didn't know why, but for a while she noticed that Carl didn't look so much like a ghost anymore. He was getting less transparent and was even gaining some colors. Conrad went to the door, just by leaving he told Bellatrix not to touch the ghost no matter what. The Death Eater felt paralyzed, Carl looked as if he was going to faint. Suddenly he fell down, as if he was hit on the back.

'I WON'T TELL!' he screamed. On his back some blood appeared. Bellatrix shivered. She would see tortures quite often, not to mention she herself did torture people, but seeing someone tortured with no one torturing in sight felt creepy.

'I won't tell, I won't tell, I won't tell!' Carl was repeating with surprising strength, considering his condition. Finally – Bellatrix thought that hours passed – blows stopped raining at the boy's back. Carl curled and wept quietly.

'I won't tell, I won't tell, I won't tell…' he was whining. Bellatrix wanted to lift him up, comfort, but she remembered the dementor's warning. Instead, she crouched about a step away from the ghost.

'It's okay, it'll be all right' she said. 'I'm here…'

She was aware how pitiful it sounded, but she thought that it could comfort Carl, but he didn't seem even to hear her words. Still she repeated these, until Conrad stopped by the barred window in the door.

'He can't hear you' the dementor said. 'He's somehow like… in the past. That's why you mustn't touch him, it would transfer you in time. To nineteenth century.'

Bellatrix fearfully moved away from the still sobbing ghost. Carl would repeat his mantra, quieter and quieter, almost whispering. Suddenly he swayed sharply, as if he was shook, and again, and again… he fell unconscious, but was brought round quickly. Bellatrix turned her head away. She didn't want to watch anymore.

The ghost's mantra seemed to have no end. Bellatrix barely could sleep. Weeping and quietly repeated "I won't tell" were accompanying her all the time. She glanced at the shivering ghost only a few times. That was what heroism looked like. A hero wasn't a knight in a shining armor, reflecting blows and curses with a smile on his lips; quite the contrary, a hero was a starving, half-dead boy, wearing dirty, torn rags, bloodstained, sobbing and crying… but holding to his ideals. "I won't tell". He didn't betray his comrades. Bellatrix couldn't help thinking of Karkaroff. Carl and Igor – two Slavs, and so different. Karkaroff just for a _chance_ of freedom betrayed all the Death Eaters he knew – Bellatrix thought of her cousin Evan, who was killed before the traitor spilled his name – and Carl wasn't broken by lack of food and sleep or tortures.

The next day Carl was only shaking and sobbing, still repeating the same words. Conrad didn't appear. Other dementors seemed to abandon this cell, probably because of their companion's ask, and Bellatrix missed any company… though not as much as to invite normal dementors.

After one day break, Carl was being beaten again. His screams were echoing in the cell, but they were the same words. Bellatrix wondered how much time was left until the boy's death. She felt that Carl should remind her of someone, but she couldn't remember whom. She wanted to think it wasn't anything important, but she couldn't help wondering.

The torturers had a steady rhythm: one day with tortures, one day without. Bellatrix personally preferred being unpredictable, but she chose not to discuss this matter with Carl. She understood that his view on tortures was totally different than hers.

The seventh day Carl broke. Bellatrix saw how difficult it was to him to crawl to the straw bed. He put the oil lamp under it. He was waiting for a long time. When the fire reached him, he was screaming in pain, as if tortured by Cruciatus curse. Bellatrix shivered. She knew already how much Carl resembled Frank Longbottom.

As soon as Carl became ghostly again, Conrad entered the cell. The dementor took off his hood.

'Welcome back' he said, hugging the ghost. Then he showed five vials of life essence. He passed three of them to Carl and one to Bellatrix.

'I'm aware I'm breaking the rules, but it wouldn't be nice to exclude you from celebrating' he winked to her as he raised his vial. 'To Carl Levittoux, the most faithful friend one can imagine!'

Bellatrix smiled to the ghost and drank all of the vial's content. She coughed. The life essence was burning her throat, but a while later pleasant warmth went through the Death Eater's body.

'I'll come back soon' Conrad promised as the empty vials were returned to him. 'I'm a bit busy now, number eighty-three should be finishing soon…'

'Number eighty-three?' Bellatrix frowned.

'Most of the dementors have no names, we were all given numbers…'

Before Conrad could finish, a cold voice interrupted him.

'Number forty-four!' some dementor hissed. 'Finish this chit-chat! The north corridor won't check itself!'

Conrad sighed and left the cell.

'See you tomorrow' he murmured. Carl smiled to Bellatrix.

'You see? With good friends, one can endure' he said. The woman nodded.

'The two of you is the best I could meet here…'

THE END

_Please review after this last chapter! Nicely please._


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